SB593: A Bill to Make More Lands Available for Local Food Production

This Monday (Feb. 2, 2015) there is an important hearing on Senate Bill 593 (SB593). The purpose of SB593 is to make more public lands available for local food production. The bill would require the state Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC), a "public corporation" within the Dept. of Agriculture which manages over 20,000 acres of State/Crown lands, to place at least 50% of their lands into sustainable agriculture and local food production. Much of that is now being leased to chemical+GMO seed companies, and only a tiny fraction of these public lands are used for local food.

make the ADC's primary mission “increasing agriculture and local food production”,

establish a sustainable agriculture and local food production plan, and

lease 50% of its land to operations that support increasing agriculture and local food production.

More background on the ADC and the possible effects of this Bill:

1) The Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) was supposedly created to help “transition Hawaii’s agriculture industry . . . to one composed of a diversity of different crops.” (ADC website). Yet, while ADC controls over 20,000 acres of agricultural public lands, less than 5% of ADC lands are used for local food production.

5) Requiring the ADC to develop and implement a plan to lease a minimum of 50% of the tillable public lands they manage within the next 10 years for sustainable agriculture and local food production seems a reasonable approach to utilizing existing public lands to achieve our State’s goal of increased food sustainability.

The economic impact of food import replacement is significant. Replacing just 10% of the food we currently import would amount to approximately $313 million. Assuming a 30% farm share, $94 million would be realized at the farm-gate which would generate an economy-wide impact of an additional $188 million in sales, $47 million in earnings, $6 million in state tax revenues, and more than 2,300 jobs.

7) The public lands the ADC is managing are held in trust and are supposed to be used for the public good. Sustainable agricultural practices (as opposed to pesticide-intensive industrial practices) are important to restore and preserve the land for future generations.

You can submit testimony on SB593 at the Capitol webpage. It takes only 30 seconds to create an account; then you can track bills, sign up for hearing notices, and submit testimony and greatly impact the future of the land you love.